International trade is a key component of climate change adaptation

• Published in: Nature Climate Change Vol. 11; no. 11; pp. 915 - 916
• Main Authors: Janssens, Charlotte, Havlík, Petr, Krisztin, Tamás, Baker, Justin, Frank, Stefan, Hasegawa, Tomoko, Leclère, David, Ohrel, Sara, Ragnauth, Shaun, Schmid, Erwin, Valin, Hugo, Van Lipzig, Nicole, Maertens, Miet
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer Science and Business Media LLC 01.11.2021; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 21st century; 704/106/694/2739; 704/844/2175; 706/1143; 706/689/159; Adaptation; Agreements; Climate adaptation; Climate Change; Climate change adaptation; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Development programs; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Environmental Studies; Farmers; Food; Food security; Foods; Free trade; Hunger; Hunger (physiology); Imports; International trade; Liberalization; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Malnutrition; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences; Physical Sciences; Policy Brief; Regions; Science & Technology; Sustainable Development Goals; Tariffs; Trade; Trade agreements; Trade liberalization; Trade policy; Trade restrictions
• ISSN: 1758-678X; 1758-6798
• DOI: 10.1038/s41558-021-01201-8

Trade liberalization in the early 21st century increased the adaptation capacity of global food systems to climate change; further liberalization and trade facilitation could help to avoid dozens of millions being undernourished at mid-century. The global trade agenda should explicitly include climate change adaptation to achieve SDG 2 Zero Hunger. Messages for policy International trade can substantially contribute to climate change adaptation by reducing global hunger driven by the heightened pressure of climate change on agricultural markets. Tariffs and quantitative trade restrictions, which countries sometimes implement in response to crisis situations, tend to aggravate the increase in hunger caused by climate change. Lowering tariffs and infrastructure-related barriers mitigates impacts on hunger in import-oriented regions, although caution is needed to avoid food price increases in export-oriented regions. Opening to trade may further expose farmers in severely hit import-oriented regions, which calls for holistic development programs to redistribute benefits and compensate income losses. Trade agreements should better account for adaptation by preventing border restrictions, facilitating trade and identifying distribution consequences and safeguards in ex-ante impact assessments.